The Best of the Rest of the Web: Avoiding Meltdowns, Embracing Broccoli, and Just Enjoying a Hot Cup of Tea

From the NYMetroParents February 2014 issues comes a selection of thought-provoking, laugh-inducing, and just plain interesting quotes from the world wide web of parenting. This month features Wednesday Martin of Stepmonster, author Dina Rose, psychologist Rita Eichenstein, and Vera Sweeney of Lady and the Blog.

 

“There are markedly higher levels of self-reported happiness in cultures where children help out. Parents do not report feeling depleted or depressed by childcare duties as they do in the West.”

—Wednesday Martin, Ph.D. (@WednesdayMartin), cogitating on the data showing that worldwide, childhood is a time of work and responsibility—not the “work of play” that dominates kids’ lives in the U.S.—on her “Stepmonster” blog (psychologytoday.com/blog/stepmonster); Dr. Martin lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons

 

broccoli“A dad who gives his son pizza for dinner when the rest of the family is having fish may have the latent goal of avoiding a conflict over food. A mom who lets her kid eat a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies before dinner may have the latent goal of having some peace and quiet after a long day.”

—Dina Rose, Ph.D. (@DrDrRose), an NYC-area sociologist, feeding expert, and mom, in her new book It’s Not About the Broccoli (Perigee), in which she encourages parents to focus on proportion, variety, and moderation as part of a healthy eating lifestyle for their kids; with 15 years experience helping parents transform their picky little eaters, Rose has created an accessible and surprisingly do-able approach to teaching your kids how to eat right (itsnotaboutnutrition.com)

 

“The very things that make a person resistant to meltdowns are scarce in the lives of parents: nutritious meals, exercise, and enough sleep. Parents tend to see these as luxuries from a bygone era, like those lovely Sunday mornings with the newspaper. Not so—healthy food, exercise, and sleep are absolute necessities. They are the fuel that enables you to be a tolerant and loving parent.

— Rita Eichenstein, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and author of Positively Atypical: How Your Well-Being Affects Your Special-Needs Child—And What You Can Do About It and the popular blog Positively Atypical (positivelyatypical.com), from a NYMetroParents article entitled “When You’re at the End of Your Rope” (nymetroparents.com/calm)

 

When will that moment be when I can sit down at night and enjoy a hot cup of tea next to a roaring fire?”

—Long Island mom Vera Sweeney (@VeraSweeney) asks her husband in a hilarious, we-wish-it-weren’t-so-relatable video on Lady and the Blog (ladyandtheblog.com) titled: “I’ll Be Dead in 15 Years and Will Never Enjoy a Hot Cup of Tea Again” #MomsNeedABreakToo

 

Twitter Talk @NYMetroParents

@amynkmcn: 4th grade conversation overheard… “I don’t have a crush on anyone, should I?”

@WednesdayMartin: Further proof that our national sport is not football but judging mothers #parenting pic.twitter.com/NeKWCdbgbO

@skgreen: Fantastic post by @johnsonwhitney on interviewing for a job while pregnant. Many points of view shared. tinyurl.muagnmp

@PsychCentral: On Tween TV, Girls Need to Look Good, Boys Are Brave ow.ly/2BWZre

@ChildMindDotOrg: If you witnessed someone experiencing a mental health crisis, would you intervene? Would you know? Bit.ly/1bwSIKt

@DawnRoode: “A man without children cannot be poor” might have more literal meaning than we typically think, data shows: tinyurl.com/qg6qmos #parenting

 

Relevant Directory Listings

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CK Kids

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">CK Kids offers various classes and programs, including Afterschool Program, Lil Chefs, Boys Hip-Hop, Ninja Starz, Lil Artists, CK Kids Athletic Programs, Acrobatics, Dance and Drama, and Karate. </span></p>

The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center offers year-round, community-based dance and music programming in a fully inclusive and nurturing environment, located in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District. The School’s diverse and professional faculty provides progressive and non-competitive instruction with all of our classes accompanied by live music. Though we are a non-recital school, there are opportunities for students to perform and for parents to see their dancers in action.</span></p>

Chickenshed NYC

<p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #515151; color: #515151; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif;">Chickenshed is an inclusive theatre company that began in the UK in 1974. Chickenshed NYC is a young organization bringing that same ethos and unique methodology to the USA. Chickenshed’s mission is to create entertaining and outstanding theatre that celebrates diversity and inspires positive change.</p> <p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #515151; color: #515151; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif;">Chickenshed's model of Inclusive Theatre is based in the belief that everyone can flourish when everyone is included. At Chickenshed everyone is welcome, everyone is valued, and together we produce remarkable theatre. We want to break down barriers between people to create a world without labels and where differences no longer divide. At Chickenshed, support is given to those who need it, and given by those who can . We believe that creative activities, self-expression and performance should be available to anyone who has the desire, no matter their background or circumstances. We know that when everyone has the opportunity to shine, amazing things happen.</p> <p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #515151; color: #515151; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif;">Chickenshed NYC provides programming for little ones, children and youth through semester-long activities and performances.</p>